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10 PRACTICAL WAYS TO DEAL WITH STRESS

I recently experienced a situation that reminded of how much I don't handle stress well. I then read this post on how our emotions affect our immune system. It was quite enlightening and scary. Somehow, I remembered writing a post about stress sometime back for a magazine in my school. I decided to fish it out, read and then modify (lots of modification actually) and post on the blog. So, let's talk about practical ways to manage stress while I insert these pictures of myself I've been hoarding.

From waking up to the sound your alarm clock has made you to despise to getting dressed for work/school to hustling to make it early so as to beat traffic to trying hard to stay awake while at it to putting in energy to being productive during the day, the cycle of activities that can cause stress for the average Nigerian seems endless. Needless to say following the same cycle for about 5 or 7 days a week becomes mundane.
This isn't limited to physical stress alone; mental and emotional stress? The absolute worst.
Going through stress is very inevitable but then, enough of allowing the stress to stress you out(No pun intended). It’s high time you started managing the stress. Stress management will not exactly reduce your stress level and is not about that. It’s about being positive in the midst of stress, choosing to ignore what would have ordinarily led to stress and controlling your lifestyle, health and emotion in the midst of stress. How then should you manage stress when it's beginning to surface?

1. Build healthy relationships – Believe me, it’s not a cliché. Nothing can calm your nerves as much as opening up to someone who listens to you and understands you. With this person, ditch complaining and whining about whatever the stressor is for bringing up old memories that’ll trigger laughter or participating in fun activities.

2. Manage your time well – Cliché much but yes, managing your time well is very beneficial and this is particularly relatable for me. I've had to learn to avoid procrastinating. Don’t wait till the day before a deadline before you start hustling to get that task done. You’re only building up more stress. Like the popular Nike tag line, just do it!

3. View stressful situations from a positive perspective – I recently read somewhere that your body reacts to your thoughts and it's as serious as having a weakened immune system if you're thinking negative thoughts. This happens to me a lot especially because I tend to overthink issues and so, using traffic as the an example, quit stressing yourself over it especially if it's one you already knew was bound to happen (Hello Lagosians) and just do something that could help you cool off like listening to music or reading.

4. Retain your sense of humour – Credits to social media for this . Instead of getting mad at yourself for making a terrible mistake, just laugh it off. As you already know, it’s the best medicine.

5. Stop fussing over things you can’t change – The behaviour of others. The ridiculously chronic traffic. You can’t change these things so quit fussing. Rather, channel your energy into reacting to them positively. Overlooking these things could be extremely hard but guess who’s free from emotional stress on the long run? You!

6. Exercise – You probably cringed at this. Some of us are physically conservative so the idea of exercise doesn’t particularly tickle our fancy on a good day talkless days when we’re undergoing stress. Well, here's to tell you or remind as the case might be that it doesn’t have to be early morning jogging, weights lifting or some other sporting activities. You could just plug in your earphones, play some music and dance. Dance away the stress. I actually do this a lot and it works. You can take a walk too. The beauty of nature will calm you.

7. Stay away from people and situations that make you feel uncomfortable. Emotional and mental stress right here. They’ll do you no good. They’ll just complicate matters.

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